Celebrating 60 years of Muchelney Pottery, this exhibition in our Shop Gallery features Muchelney Kitchenware alongside selected individual pots by John Leach, Mark Melbourne and Nick Rees.

Muchelney Pottery was established in the heart of the Somerset Levels in 1965, by John and Lizzie Leach. John, the eldest grandson of Bernard Leach, designed the iconic Kitchenware range of ‘toasted’ wood-fired stoneware for use: from oven-to-table cooking, to serving and drinkware. The shapes celebrate form and function as made by a craftsman’s hand to be part of one’s everyday rhythms.

John died in 2021 and Muchelney continues under the management of his son Ben, with Mark Melbourne making the Kitchenware. Mark has been recently joined by new apprentice Hannah Leach, who continues the family tradition of making pots – learning through the ethos of John's designs and practices.

John Leach was born in 1939 at the Leach Pottery in St Ives, and started his potter’s training with his father, David, in 1957 at Lowerdown. John began making his own characteristically robust personal pieces in 1983. He was inspired by other cultures and times; he loved medieval forms and pots of the Appalachian Way. He spent time in Alaska, Denmark, Sweden, USA, Jamaica and Africa. His time in Nigeria was especially resonant and had a later influence on some of his ‘Black Mood’ pots; these were fired in a saggar filled with sawdust to create dark clay bodies with serendipitous organic lines. No two pieces are the same and they are prized items in collections around the world.

Mark Melbourne began his training at Muchelney in 1991 before fully joining the crew in 2002. Mark's personal work sees him regularly experimenting with form and surface decoration, with influences coming from African and English country pottery. He has a small workshop space where he throws, then fires his work alongside the Muchelney Kitchenware in the three-chambered wood-fired kiln, giving his pots their beautiful rich glazes.

Nick Rees joined Muchelney in 1972, where he trained and worked until his retirement in 2018. Nick’s personal work demonstrates a subtle and refined approach to shape and design, accentuated through carving, fluting and experimentation with slips and glazes. This surface detail, combined with the electric firing process which he uses in his home studio, allows Nick to produce a range of work that is both distinctive and organic.

Join the Muchelney Pottery crew at our Preview, where Mark Melbourne will be demonstrating on a kick-wheel in the Old Pottery from 4 - 6pm. Mark is also delivering a course: The Thrown Forms of Muchelney: Intermediate Throwing, Plates & Mugs (sold out).

The exhibition runs in the Leach Pottery Shop Gallery.
All works for sale.

Free admission; open Monday - Saturday, 10am - 5pm & Sunday, 11am - 4pm.